DWI arrest results in no bond for Tomball man

Nancy Flake

Published 7:39 pm, Wednesday, June 13, 2012

A Tomball man who received probation after pleading guilty to the intoxication manslaughter death of a Houston man in 2006 now is being held on no bond in the Montgomery County Jail after his March arrest and indictment Tuesday for driving while intoxicated.

Travis Scott Smalling, 26, faces a charge of second-degree felony DWI with a previous intoxication manslaughter conviction. Judge Fred Edwards, of the 9th state District Court, who gave Smalling seven years’ probation when he pleaded guilty to the intoxication manslaughter charge in 2007, revoked Smalling’s bond April 26, court documents show.

Smalling has no attorney of record, according to court records.

John Anthony Farinacci, 19, of Houston, died Feb. 20, 2006, when he was riding unsecured in the “cargo” compartment of a 2003 Chevrolet Corvette driven by Smalling, who lived in Magnolia at the time.

Texas Department of Public Safety officials said then that the Corvette left the damp pavement on Windy Ridge Trail and crashed into a tree, which sheared the vehicle in half.

A DPS trooper said Smalling was traveling at an unsafe speed when the vehicle left the roadway after it encountered a curve. Farinacci died of blunt force trauma at the scene, and Smalling was transported to a hospital in critical condition, with serious injuries to his legs and pelvic area.

The trooper said the Corvette, after leaving the roadway, was briefly airborne before smashing into the tree. Smalling and a second passenger in the vehicle were wearing seatbelts, and the second passenger walked away from the crash “without a scratch,” the trooper previously said.

Smalling was driving the Corvette with a suspended license, the trooper previously said.

Montgomery County indictments for June 5, 7 and 12:

• Olivia K. Williams, driving while intoxcated with child under 15, two counts

• Kristopher R. Bartlett, unauthorized use of motor vehicle

• Mistie S. Castleberry, DWI with child under 15

• Cornelius D. Soto, DWI, third or more

• Matthew L. Carter, DWI, third or more

• Joyce L. Phillips, manufacture or possession of controlled substance with intent to deliver, four counts; unlawful possession of firearm by felon

• Richard C. Schrader, failure to register as sex offender

• Michael J. Miller, intoxication assault

• David A. Edge, manufacture or possession of controlled substance with intent to deliver